THE JENNINGS ARE COMING

Yes, she found them.

We always love the Sabbath Day.  Our Sacrament meeting was one of the best.  Elder Dallas Brown gave his farewell talk.  It was so good.  He talked about how Joseph Smith was his hero.  He is a special person.  Sister Whitney Wilcox then gave her homecoming talk.  Wow!  What a missionary she was.  She really preached the gospel so beautifully and with such power and conviction.  She served in the same mission as her brother, Russell.  She was able to reactivate some of his contacts and teach some of his investigators.  It was such a special calling for her.  The people loved Russell so she could get in with everyone.  She is a beautiful person.  It was just an inspirational meeting.  With two missionaries reporting the building was packed.
Monday was an important day.
CAMERON JENNINGS TURNED 11.

I'm ready now!

We are so proud of Cameron and the progress he has made in his family, school, sports, church, music, and Scouting.  He has tried very hard in everything he has worked on.  We love the way he hugs us when we go to visit and when the family comes here.  He always has new knowledge to share.  It is hard to believe that on his next birthday he will be able to receive the Holy Priesthood.  We are looking forward to that day.  He loves to go golfing with his dad or just do anything with his dad.  He loves anything BYU and can tell you the scores for games long past.  Life is always interestig when Cameron is around.  We love you Cameron.

I am still hurting from my surgery so after all the cortisone I am now on a series of weekly protein shots.  If I were a horse they would just shoot me.  The ligament was a really bad tear.  He says I have a lot of arthritis in that knee.  Oh well.  I'm still healthy.
Thursday dad left for carving class and got a lot of things done.  I needed to run some errands so I headed out the garage to my car----literally.  I must have missed a step and landed head first on the cement.  I waited awhile to make sure I was okay but knew by the blood on my hands that I had a cut somewhere.  I got into the house and sat down on the couch for fear I would get dizzy.  I had my purse so got out my phone and decided to take a picture because I was afraid I would fall again if I got up.  This is what I saw.

I called the doctor but he couldn't see me until 2:00 so I called Dad.  He had his phone turned off so I called a neighbor, Hilda, and she took me to emergency.  I kept calling Dad but he had his class until noon.  The doctor had me go in for a  CATscan to make sure my cheek wasn't broken and that there was no brain damage.  Dad got to the hospital at 1:00 because he got home to find me not there and when he looked at his messages saw the pictures.  I was so glad to see him.  They started stitching at 1:30.  I told them to hurry because Dad had his cardiologist apt. at 1:40.  The doctor put in 15 stitches; five inside.

  We hurried to the doctor apt and then went to the mall to get something I wanted.  After the mall we went to Costco to get some things for Tiffani's visit.  After that we went to the distribution center to get garments for Tiff's birthday and then to Wal-Mart for groceries.  When we got home we were very tired.  Tiff and family arrived at 2:00 AM.  They fell into bed.  It was so good to see them.
The next morning we picked up Ava and Nixon and headed to the zoo.  I was a little swollen.

We had such a great day.  With all the doings I didn't even get a head ache. (If you haven't figured it out by now, she is one tough lady!) We were so happy that Dianne came with some of the kids.  Erik's couldn't come because they were not on spring break.

Sleeping birds in the nest

Watching over her chicks

Is that Clark or what?

Even Dad and Dave went

After the day we stopped at Wendy's for some lunch.  We were so hungry.  Scott and family came over and the kids played until they dropped; adults too.
Saturday we woke up and headed to the BYU scrimmage.  They have an hour before the scrimmage that the kids do drills with the players.  This is always a fun time.   Erik's boys were there too.  Parker was at a Boy Scout merit badge morning hosted by BYU.  It's a great way to earn some badges.  We remember when Erik and Scott would go.  It was a great morning and the players autographed Cameron's shirt, the boys programs, Clara's shirt and Lauryn's flip flops.

Dad, Dave, Erik, Shanelle

happy fans

The girls paid such close attention.

These eyes never left the field.

We had such a fun day.  We went home and had a cook-out with Polish dogs and chips.  It was so relaxing and just fun to be together.  Shanelle went to Women's Conference and Erik played with his boys.  He so loves to be with them.  They have great times together.
After dinner Nixon put on quite a dance show for us.  We were laughing so hard I forgot to take pictures.(Thank Goodness)  The girls got into the dress up tubbies and put on quite a show.

We had such a great weekend and saw someone from every family but Kristin's.  We so miss them but they are so far away.  David is taking his written final Monday and we are praying very hard that he will do well.  He has studied so hard.  We love everyone so much and each other.  I don't know what I would do without your father.  He's a trip.  Oh I already did that.
 (I love your mother so much!  I was heartbroken when she needed me and I was not there.  She seldom asks for anything she is so independent.  She is doing great but she will have a scar. )

BAYLIE TURNS 6

still our favorite view from the back door  Taken 3/21/14

Erik and his family came over Sunday evening to bring us some St. Patrick's cookies.  It was just fun having them here for a short time.  We love that we are close enough to see them often.  As usual I forgot to take a picture.
Monday the wind blew fiercely.  We could do nothing outside so we cleaned the inside.  We had Nixon for a few hours.  When it was time to go home he gave me a big hug.  I forgot that I had just given him a cookie.  

 He was proud of the mess he made.  I think he looks a lot like Cameron did at this age.
Baylie Anne Batchelor turned 6 on the 19th. 

 She said she had been 5 for 12 years when we asked her how she got so old.  She is such a delight.  Her mother put in 131 extensions for her big day. 

 It took 2 days to get them in.  Seventeen hours.  What child sits that long for a hair do? 
 It 's a good thing it was something she wanted.  She is doing very well in school and loves it.  She loves to read and do homework.  We are so blessed to have her sealed for eternity to our family.  We love her so much.  We just wish they lived closer so we could see her and the family more often.  She had a Frozen party on Friday and we guess it was quite the party.
George loves the carving class I gave him  for Christmas.  He is learning so much.  He has finished this cane topper of Santa.

We had a fun and stressful Saturday.  The morning went well and in the afternoon we went to Springville to watch Kolton play soccer.  Before and after the game we worked in the yard.  Dad pruned the bushes on the side of the garage and I worked on the berm.  Dad also dug out a lilac and loaded all of the branches of the lilac and 2 huge climbing roses into his truck.  Later that evening Uncle Del called to see how he was and I mentioned Dad's hearing aids.  All of a sudden Dad said that one of his aids was missing.  Boy did we panic.  We tried finding them on his iphone but something wasn't working right.  We went out and searched where he had been working.  The darn things are so very, very tiny and clear in color.  The grass was rough and the little pieces that he couldn't pick up were all over the grass.  I walked very slowly and kept my eyes to the ground.  Right behind me was Dad.  He looked down and found them.  Whew!  Our Father in Heaven continuously gives us tender mercies.  How we are blessed.

Resting up for Tuesday's day of fishing

 We love the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and the blessings we constantly receive because of our Savior's mercy.  We love each other and our eternal family so very much.  We are anxiously awaiting the news of when our friends in North Carolina are going to the temple. We would love going back and seeing the good people we have grown to love so much.

DOCTORS', APPOINTMENTS , DOCTORS', APPOINTMENTS

Matt  Cherry reported his mission Sunday.  He did such a good job.  He just spoke like a pro.  He  such a good person and will be a leader in whatever he does.  We went to their home after meeting and had a good visit with everyone.
We went to Erik's for dinner and games for their home evening.  It was a yummy dinner and the games were hilarious.  Erik made the most delicious apple pie ever.

After dinner we played Fibber and Apples to Apples.  What a fun time and what a fun family.

Monday we went Google Fiber.  It is a free internet service.  We can't tell any difference in the speed so it is just fine for us. Doing this blog has shown me it is certainly slower but for free I will deal with it. Erik and family came to do more pruning on the fruit trees.  Parker is earning money for Disneyland and works so hard.  He stayed with Dad and Erik the whole time.  We had Nixon so he and Asher had a great time.  Nixon left at 5.  Asher told Bethany Nixon could stay at our house and walk home later.  They're so fun.  After the work was done we had tacos.  Erik made the meat and Parker cooked the shells.  Shanelle made all the trimmings.  I supervised.  It was a great day.
Tuesday was Molly's 11th birthday.  We love that little girl so much.  It is fun to watch her grow into such a lovely young lady but very hard to see the little girl change.  She has always been one of the little ones and now she is "growed up".  She is a sweet, friendly girl who loves to help her friends and family.  She always has a smile.  She is a good student and tries very hard to make good choices.  We love her so much.
 The next morning found us at Dr. Darley's office at 8:30 to check Dad's ears.  He has a great office with a lot of help.  Dad went through some tests and we even saw on a monitor inside his ear.  Amazing.  They found that he definitely has to have hearing aids.  He didn't like that but has known for several years that he needed them.  They will fit him tomorrow.  We left there to go to Dr. McKell's office for some dental work.  We were there 2 hours.  After leaving there we went to Dr. Nelson's for my knee apt. It has been over 10 weeks and I still am in pain and limping around.  We found out the surgery was fine but that my arthritis is in full bloom again.  I'm on a very high dose of cortisone pills for 6 days and it seems to be coming along just fine.
Brad Monks came over that evening and we fed him home made turkey soup.  It was very tasty and on our diet.
George could not believe his hearing aid.  He put it on and immediately started hearing things he hadn't realized he was missing.  It has only been available for 2 weeks so it is the latest model.  He controls it on his iphone.  If he loses the hearing aides the phone will find them for him.  They are so tiny you cannot see them.  The part behind his ear looks like part of his glasses.  When we left we went to the store for some milk.  We got home and he was amazed that the sacks of groceries made noise when he set them down.  He could even hear when he scratched his head.  We were watching TV and he was surprised that he could hear the players shoes squeak.  I am so happy he has this great tool.  It did cost $6,000 so the new roof will have to wait another year.  It won't leak.  It will last another year.
We came home and worked in the back yard roses.  When Scott came to pick up the kids he hauled off all the thorny stems and raspberry branches.  That is so helpful.  We love living so close to the boys.  They have really stepped in to help Dad at this time.  He gets to drive again Tuesday.  Talk about a back seat driver. Ugh!
Friday George tripped over the garden hose and fell hitting the ground on his left shoulder and back.  He kept his arm down and turned to the back hoping he could avoid hitting the pace maker.  The wooden double rocker landed on top of him.  He doesn't know how that happened.  We called the doctor and they said it was probably okay.  They'll check the monitor Monday since he doesn't feel any different.  He was using the toaster and said "I've got to fix this toaster.  It makes way too much noise when it pops up"  I don't think we realized how poor his hearing was. The hearing aids are great.
Saturday Shanelle came over to do her hair while waiting for Parker to do a merit badge thing at BYU.  She told us about a sale at the GAP.   We decided to go and had a fun time.  After getting a bite of lunch we went to Kolton's indoor soccer game.  We were so glad it was in door in that the wind was horrible and it was very cold.  We certainly do enjoy being together.  With dad on such a calorie based diet we eat lot of veggies.  Good thing we like them.

meal prep

The restored gospel is true.  We love it and our family and each other,

HOSPITAL ROOM WITH A VIEW

Fast Sunday is always good.  The priesthood took over most of the meeting.  I love it when that happens.  Brother Darling asked if the testimonies could be short; they were and so many were able to bear.  I noticed that all through the meeting Dad was sending many messages to the doctor on the heart monitor phone.  After church we headed to choir practice.  When we got to the clubhouse dad said he just didn’t’ feel well and was going home.  I went with him and no sooner had we walked in the door than the phone rang.  It was the doctor at the heart monitor office saying that dad’s heart had quit for 6 seconds every few minutes.  He asked what hospital we used and when I told him he said someone would be waiting for us.  We called the boys to meet us there and headed to the hospital.  Within 30 minutes he was in bed all hooked up to monitors. 

The nurses said he would be getting a pace maker.  Before the nurses were through the boys and the wives were there.  The blessing Erik gave Dad was so wonderful.  The amazing thing was that shortly before he finished the whole mood of the blessing changed.  He became very positive and told Dad he had a longer life to live and more work to be done.  It was amazing.  When he was finished Scott looked at me and said.  "You’re next.  You look like you need a blessing."  I had been doing a great deal of crying and Dad had been weepy also.  Scott gave me a beautiful blessing and I felt so calm and peaceful after that.  In fact I haven’t cried since.  How blessed we are to have sons worthy enough to come to our aide at any moment.  We loved that Shanelle and Bethany came too. 

President Cherry and Susie came to visit.  We love them.

The nurses shaved Dad’s chest (I asked them to wax it) and prepared him for surgery.  Dr. Hwang changed his mind and said they would wait until the new medicine Dad was taking had gone through his body to see if that was the problem. which would avoid the surgery.  Dad was very relieved.  I decided to just spend the night there because I could watch the monitor.  His blood pressure was okay but his heart rate was all over the place and his heart was still stopping.  In the middle of the night the rate went to 28.  Before I could move the nurse was in there putting something in his IV.  It had been at 41-47 all day which isn’t good.  It was a very nervous time. 

Our regular cardiologists visited us every day several times.

Monday morning Dr. Hwang (a Korean) came in to say the surgery would take place later that day; his heart was very irregular.  It was a long day and hard to stay calm.  We just wanted it over.  We found out George’s fishing buddy was on the same floor waiting for an oblation.  They fish together at least once a week.  They even go ice fishing in the winter.  We had to wait for Cliff’s operation before Dad could go in for his.  We finally got in at 4:00.  The operation went very well and he is doing fine.  The girls sent dad balloons.

We were able to go home the next evening.  They wanted to make sure the pace maker was doing its job.  We now have a monitor that is not hooked to him under his side of the bed.  When he goes to bed at night the monitor downloads his pace maker from the day and sends the information out.  How amazing modern medicine is.

Scott brought us dinner that night when we got home.  Dad was very tired and after being in the hospital 3 days both of us had a great night’s sleep.  George didn’t wake up until 7:45.

Dad has his arm in a wrap because he can’t raise it.  The pace maker is attached to his heart by screws and they need to have time to implant.  He cannot be in front of a microwave or his i-pad and has to avoid electrical things like store beepers.  He will not be able to raise his arm for a month.  When I woke up this morning he had both hands behind his head so this is going to be tricky.

President Cherry stopped by as well as Erik and Shanelle to see how he was doing.  They showed him how to do his diet on the computer.  He is permitted 2000 calories this week and then only 1500.  He really is on top of things.  Dennis Stoutsenberger came by in that our furnace is broken and it gets very cold.  He showed me what to bang on and it works every time I do that.  

We are hanging in there and things are good.  We are so blessed to have this modern medicine and the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.  Our Father in Heaven  has blessed men and women who develop new things for medicine all the time. 

Scott took dad looking at fishing poles last night and it was good for him to get out of the house.  It’s hard for him to face that he needs help for his heart to beat.  He does have a positive attitude though.  I’m just grateful we’re still together and having a great life together.
We saw the movie "Saving Mr. Banks"  We really enjoyed it.
We spent all day Saturday working in the yard.  Scott's family came and then Erik's.  We had so much pruning to do with all the fruit trees. 

she really did work

Shanelle and Erik

Scott workin'

always working

Ava carried many loads

teaching Parker the art of pruning

What kind of bird is in that tree?

Camden and Kolton

We only got 2 and a half done but it is way more than we would have done alone.  It was so much fun with the grand kids and the adults. 

brothers working together

 

the supervisor

After we worked we had a bar-b-q. 
 It is so much fun to have family around.  We love working with them.  

Asher and Nixon

two to travel

After a rest we went to Scott's home to give guidance on pruning his pear trees.  I was thoroughly entertained by Ava and Nixon. 

Is this a princess or a ground hog?

We were so tired when we got home we just dropped into bed.  It was a great day to be outside and working.  It felt so good.  How we love the importance of families in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.  How I love that our Dad is still with us.

FEBRUARY'S OVER?

The olden days

We were taught and entertained by a great talk given by Sister Judy Judd.  It was on forgiving others and ourselves.  She always does a sweet and spiritual job with her talks.  We love her.  Kinsey Rife also gave her homecoming talk on forgiveness.  She was a great missionary in Houston.  I was wonderful to see Matthew Cherry and Whitney Wilcox back from their missions.  They will report in March.  They looked so good.

It was so warm Monday that I even pulled some weeds on the berm.  I am hoping that soon I will be able to kneel down to do it.  Nixon was a great help.  The 2014 Olympics are over and we did think USA would do better.  We couldn’t watch 5 days of it because our TV kept pixeling (have no idea how to spell it.)  We were so proud of all the Utah athletes.  We sit right in front of Pikus-Pace's  in-laws at the football games.  They are so proud of her.

It was a beautiful day to go to the temple Tuesday.  We were the witness couple again.  We get chosen so often but we just love going to the temple.  It is so warm that dad is golfing with Brad.  Shocker!  It was so nice that we worked in the yard all afternoon.

Wednesday we went to a special viewing of the original works of the artists Bloch, Heinrich Hoffman, and Schwartz.  It is the first time some of these works have ever been out of their countries.  It is at the BYU Art Museum.  The works are called Sacred Gifts and it was indeed sacred.  I am so thrilled we were able to see such beautiful gifts.  We went with some of the young women in our ward.

 Friday was a fun day in that we went to Ava's first competition.   She performed with 2 other girls.  They were so cute.  Every person got a trophy.  Ava was so excited.  They did a very good job.  She loves to dance.  Ava's little group took first place.

the one in the middle

This little guy will go anywhere his dad does.

It was held at Thanksgiving Point and while there, Dad got very worried because he was short of breath and very dizzy.  This has been happening for a few months but it was just getting worse.  I immediately went outside and called Dr. Cragen.  We saw him a few hours later.  They took some blood and put him on a monitor.  Three things are stuck to his chest and hooked to a phone and a monitor so if anything weird happens they will know immediately.  When something does happen  Dad pushes a button and it lets the monitor people know what he is doing at that time.  Dr. Craig Halliday is the one we always see and we like him.  He has ordered a cat scan,  stress test and a new prescription  He doesn't think it has anything to do with the heart. 

Saturday started us off with a viewing of a woman Dad baptized in 1964 while on his mission.  He also baptized her 2 daughters and son.  They knew him as soon as we walked in the room.  We were early so they had a few minutes to just visit and remember old times.  They were so glad he had gone to the viewing.  Her name is Jeanne(Jean) Clark and her work has been in the Ensign and many museums.  It is nice to know someone you baptized has had an influence of many others.  The restored gospel is so true.

We went to Spanish Fork to get the last piece of material I need for my quilt.  I only needed 2/3 of a yard and no one around here had it.  The quilt is from all the scraps I had from the towels I made y'all for Christmas.  It's crazy but I love it.  It's probably the last one that will be chosen by one of the grands but I love it anyway.  It has many memories.

We love all of you and are praying that David will pass his orals.  Please join us.  The Lord is mindful of everyone and loves every one.  We love this knowledge.  We love each other and doing things together although I am now driving and Dad holds on for dear life.